====== Enceladus heating ======

//Enceladus// is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn. about 500 km in diameter. It has been known since 2005 that it has higher surface temperatures than can currently be explained.

>Data from Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer of Enceladus' south polar terrain, which is marked by linear fissures, indicate that the internal heat-generated power is about 15.8 gigawatts, approximately 2.6 times the power output of all the hot springs in the Yellowstone region, or comparable to 20 coal-fueled power stations. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than scientists had predicted, according to Carly Howett, the lead author of study, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., and a composite infrared spectrometer science team member.\\ __"The mechanism capable of producing the much higher observed internal power remains a mystery and challenges the currently proposed models of long-term heat production,"__ 
>\\ Source :  [[https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20110307.html|NASA]]

Proposed mechanisms include include tidal, radioactive and chemical theories. See [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus#Possible_heat_sources|Wikipedia]]